Beastcops

Beastcops is a rambunctious story about three policemen who keep tabs on triad gangsters in a notorious Hong Kong black spot. One's a martinet (Michael Wong) who begins to go off the rails, one's a wacky youngster (Sam Lee, from Made in Hong Kong, UdineIncontri 1998), and the other - magnificently played by Hong Kong "psycho" actor Anthony Wong - is a bent cop with a heart of gold. Most of the fun comes from a long and rambling second act where story is seconded to long scenes of guy talk and laddish japery. Director Gordon Chan spent time in triad nightclubs researching the film, and some of the scenarios are based on stories the gangsters told him. Consequently the movie is an accurate, if slightly toned-down, look at how the line between gangsters and lawmen can become blurred. To cap off the fun, co-director Dante Lam added a cheeky and bloody finale which he intended as a parody of Reservoir Dogs. But Wong's cool comic turn as the rotten cop who still knows where to draw the line is ultimately the thing that sticks in the mind. Chan decided to make a film about Hong Kongers and Hong Kong issues to woo viewers away from American blockbusters. The resulting feisty and fun cop movie didn't exactly set the box-office alight. But it was popular enough to show that Hong Kong moviegoers still like to watch films that speak directly to them.